TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic communication protocol of the Internet and may also be used as a communications protocol in private networks (e.g., intranets). TCP/IP is frequently referred to as a protocol stack, which refers to the layers through which data passes at both client and server ends of a data exchange. The TCP/IP model has four layers: an application layer (e.g., FTP, SMTP, or Telnet); a transport layer (TCP or UDP); a network layer (IP); and a link layer (e.g., Ethernet).
When TCP/IP is implemented in an Ethernet network, Ethernet frames encapsulate the data for the upper layers. FIG. 1 illustrates a format for an Ethernet frame 100. The Ethernet frame includes header information 105, a payload 110, and trailer information 115. The header information includes a 6 byte MAC (Media Access Control) destination address (DA) portion 120, a 6 byte MAC source address (SA) portion 125, and a 2 byte Type portion 130. The trailer information 115 includes a 4 byte checksum portion 135. The payload 110 includes an IP packet with its own header 135 and trailer information 140, and its own payload 145. Network devices in the network may include TCP/IP software stacks, which enable the network device to extract data from the various packets (e.g., Ethernet frames, IP packets, and TCP datagrams) and to encapsulate and format data for transmission over the appropriate layer.